Scene and Heard: Scene's News Blog

And We Have Our First Fireworks Accident of the Holiday Week

It seems like a good idea every time. A neighbor, a friend, a drunken uncle who's an "expert," or someone brings out the explosives around the Fourth of July. It's fine, I've done this before, it's no big deal, they say. Whatever homemade ammunition they've pulled from their garage or whatever brightly colored package bought from a shack on the side of the highway, it's never a good idea, and it is a big deal.

Safety first, kids. Let the experts deal with the explode-y stuff, otherwise you'll end up like this young man from Olmsted Falls who just about blew off his foot recently.

He was in the passenger seat of a car, lighting fireworks and then throwing them out the window. Apparently that counts as a prank these days. Unfortunately for him, he dropped one on the floor of the car. It "severely damaged" his right foot. On the bright side: stumps are great for pranks.

The man was in the passenger’s side of a 2005 Mazda driving near the intersection of Howe and Royalton roads when the accident occurred, Police Chief Charles Goss said.

The man was attempting to play a prank by lighting fireworks and throwing them out of the window of the car while it was moving.

The man accidentally dropped one of the firecrackers and it exploded on his right foot, Goss said.

“He was just trying a simple prank, but it all went wrong,” he said

The Olmsted Township woman who was driving the vehicle then drove to the Circle K on Boston Road in Brunswick, where she called 911. The Brunswick Fire Department transported the man to Southwest General Medical Center.

Expect 17 more of these before the weekend is over. People are not bright.